A cursory glance over the official synopsis for The Harvest reveals that it’s the first film John McNaughton has made in “nearly 15 years.” After that lengthy hiatus, the cult director responsible for bringing out a bold performance from Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer is back to send more heebie jeebies down your spine.
In his forthcoming domestic thriller, the story follows a young girl who moves in with grandparents following her parents’ untimely death. In an effort to seek out companionship of those closer to her in age, she befriends a young boy from the neighborhood despite his parents’ vehement disapproval. As kids are wont to do, she sneaks in anyway to solidify their friendship and discovers that there’s a reason his parents don’t want outsiders popping round for a quick go on the X-Box.
Michael Shannon and Samantha Morton lead the proceedings as the boy’s overbearing parents, and considering both come to the film with significant experience portraying somewhat unhinged characters, their performances add an added layer of creepy to the story.
The Harvest opens in select theaters and on VOD on April 10th.
In his first film in nearly 15 years, the director of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer harks back to the depravity that made his 1986 debut a horror milestone. But less based in reality, The Harvest is closer to a fairy tale from Grimm’s darkest corners. Maryann (Natasha Calis) moves in with her grandparents after she’s orphaned.
Desperately lonely, the preteen sets out to befriend a neighboring deathly ill, bed-ridden boy (Charlie Tahan), despite the outright disapproval of his mother (Samantha Morton). Maryann’s persistence pays off, however, and during a series of secret visits she gradually uncovers some seriously sinister goings-on in the house… Morton as the boy’s overprotective surgeon mom is the stuff of great screen villainy—at once utterly monstrous and tragically desperate—so much so that she makes even frequent heavy Michael Shannon, as the more subdued dad, pale in comparison.
